On August 24, 1989, the only thing hotter than the weather in Atlanta was Cardinals left hander Joe Magrane, as he allowed just three hits, and led the way to a 4-1 victory over the Braves at Fulton County Stadium.Two of those three hits came during the second inning, as the hurler allowed a two out single to Tommy Gregg, and moments later Jody Davis drove him in with a double. Magrane settled down quickly, and retired the next man. However, the Cardinals had no easy task in front of them with Tom Glavine on the hill for the Braves. The 23-year-old Glavine was still coming into his own as a pitcher. He had led the National League in losses the season before, but was well on his way to his first winning season in the bigs, but on this day he was going to add a loss to his totals.
After tying things up in the fifth, the Cardinals took the lead in the sixth on an RBI double by Pedro Guerrero, and that was all Magrane needed, as he allowed a hit in the bottom of that inning before turning out the lights the rest of the way. Just to give the Redbird hurler a little more breathing room Guerrero belted a two run shot off of Glavine in the eighth, and after walking a man his day was over. On the other side of the diamond Magrane set down man after man until he had added his sixth consecutive win to his totals.
The win was also Magrane's 17th of the season, as he had solidified himself as one of the top pitchers in the league. After the game Whitey Herzog called him the best in the league, saying that the only run that Atlanta scored came on a chopper that fell in. While it was a dominant outing, Magrane himself thought he dropped 10 pounds in the 96 degree Atlanta heat. He said it was no picnic, and his strategy was simply to attack the zone. It was a sound strategy that led to victory.
Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL198908240.shtml
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